Foursquare bridges cyber networking gap

It’s official:  Foursquare fever has hit the staff of the Printz. It’s been a week since we discovered this addicting cell phone application, and the fever could soon spread across the entire USM campus.

According to foursquare.com, Foursquare is an interactive app that helps you explore your city, locate your friends, and meet new people. It is similar to Xbox 360’s Achievements in that you can unlock rewards and earn points. Once you visit a particular location a certain number of times and under certain conditions, you can earn badges and points and even become mayor of that location.


Points are earned by “checking in” at a certain place, whether it’s a restaurant or a local park or an art gallery. Just open the app on your phone and press “check-in here.” Every check-in earns a certain amount of points. As you check in to other places with other Foursquare users, you can unlock badges.  For instance, you can earn the “Local” badge by visiting a place at least three times, and the “I’m On a Boat” badge can be unlocked by boarding a boat and sailing out to sea.

Becoming the mayor of a certain place is essentially for bragging rights. If you have been to a particular place more than anyone else on Foursquare, you become the mayor of said place. Some businesses offer freebies to mayors, ranging from ice cream to drinks. And yes, you can steal the title from an established mayor; just visit the place more often than he or she does and claim your new title.

Foursquare is very user-friendly, allowing you to add venues and communicate with other users. It can also connect to Facebook, so your friends can see where you are. You can also leave tips for other users, such as “Try their pizza; it’s delicious!” or “Best coffee in town!” With that in mind, this app could persuade people to go out more and subsequently stimulate business. I call it “the Wii of phone applications”; it encourages socialization and stimulates a sense of adventure.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Cameron Andrews said, a freshman banking and finance major from McComb, MS. “It’s like making a video game out of real life.”

Foursquare is free and available for iPhone and Droid, and an app for Blackberry is in the works.  Visit www.foursquare.com to create an account and download the app on your phone. Adventure and addiction are just a few clicks (or taps) away!